Finance

EV Finds Larger Appetite for Smaller Utica Asset Packages

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After turning down a purchase offer from a large company for a majority stake in more than 100,000 prospective Utica shale acres, upstream master limited partnership EV Energy Partners (EVEP) is finding that many of the buyers in the market have more of an appetite for smaller deals.

EVEP has been marketing 103,800 acres in the Ohio portion of the Utica shale spanning black oil, light oil, wet gas and dry gas zones. But the company recently turned down an offer from a large prospective buyer, citing unacceptable deal terms. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 18, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Government Policy Can Help Innovate the Path to a Clean Energy Future

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The key to broader penetration of solar energy depends on access to capital markets and innovative financial structures that can reduce the cost of capital for project finance as well as increase the investor base beyond the traditional tax-equity driven investors. There is a strong case for the DOE to establish the Advancd Research Project Agency-Capital (ARPA-C) that will function to support the broader adoption and commercialization of renewable energy through mechanisms, including credit enhancment and direct equity investments for capital market project aggregation warehouse facilities and securitization transactions.

While ARPA-E has been successful for the deveopment of new renewable technologies, the renewable sector can benefit from the expansion of ARPA-E to include capital to catalyze the breakthroughs for financial innovations. ARPA-C innovations can help bridge the funding gap that challenges renewable energy growth by providing structural support for renewable energy projects to develop capital markets solutions. Capital Markets structures can help reduce the total installed cost of solar electricity significantly – and combined with other DOE initiatives could help make solar power cost-competitive without additional subsidies. The Obama adminstration outlined in the March 20, 2011 publication “Blueprint for a secure energy future”, three major goals : Keep reading →

 /  Published April 17, 2013 at 2:30 PM

Renewable Energy: Filling the Megawatt Void

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If any sector would seem unlikely to be singled out for its robust dealmaking outlook, renewable energy might seem to be it. After a surge in investment and in installations over the past decade, renewable energy seemed to run out of road in 2012, undermined by extreme competition, low natural gas prices and limits on government assistance in a budget-constrained environment.

But 2012 proved to be a surprise for analysts of the renewable energy sector, analyst from consulting and accountancy firm Deloitte said in their most recent overview of the sector’s merger and acquisition activity. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 10, 2013 at 8:30 AM

Do You Have Your CICI? Energy Traders Down to the Wire on Dodd Frank Compliance

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If you trade an energy product over the counter rather than on an exchange, you probably need to get yourself a CICI number by Wednesday (April 10). That’s the deadline the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has set up for firms that haven’t been exempted from reporting information on their “swaps” activity to the government as part of the lengthy and complex implementation of the Dodd Frank financial sector reform.

Because the government just loves a good acronym, CICI stands for “CTFC Interim Compliant Identifier” that results in an “LEI” or a “legal entity identifier” for the purposed of reporting details of energy swaps trade and counterparties. The CFTC, concerned that some would miss the deadline, issued an advisory with much more information here. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 8, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Energy Legal Work Takes the Number Two Spot: Growth Forecast

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Energy law was a star performer for the sector in the first quarter of 2013.

Only a spate of mega-deals in the technology, media and telecoms space kept energy sector legal work from once again taking the top spot in law firm activity in the first quarter of 2013 according to the latest rankings and data from Mergermarket. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 8, 2013 at 1:30 PM

Shell’s VC Fund Looks to Green the Fossil Fuel Business

By Greentech Media


Hundreds of millions of dollars in a new venture fund, with one-quarter aimed at “future energy” technologies.

Royal Dutch Shell has won both criticism and praise for its green investment habits — but when it comes to venture capital, it’s pretty tightly focused on serving its own oil and gas business needs first. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 8, 2013 at 8:30 AM

Some Power Groups Dodge New Financial Requirements

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has come under fire for the nuanced lists of exemptions it has offered to various firms and groups as it implements some portions of Dodd Frank legislation that require greater transparency and tighter limits on hedging and trading of the derivatives it oversees.

Included in this group have been certain “natural” players perceived as having an inherent physical position in a relevant commodity and therefore less likely to game the market without regard for fundamental supply and demand or to hold dangerously large positions. Also included as of this week are public power companies and cooperative utilities, which have been exempted from all but the anti-fraud, anti-manipulation and record inspection provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act when it comes to energy transactions. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 2, 2013 at 2:30 PM

Mega Oil Deal ‘More Important Than Cyprus’: Rosneft Chief

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As politicians in Cyprus scramble to clinch a bailout deal to avert a collapse of its banking sector, Rosneft and BP finalized a deal to create the world’s largest listed oil major, an agreement Rosneft’s CEO hailed as “more important than the situation in Cyprus”.

Rosneft completed the acquisition of BP subsidiary TNK-BP on Thursday. It gives BP a near 20 percent stake in the Russian oil firm. The U.K.-listed oil giant announced Friday that it will buy back $8 billion of its shares, and return some of the proceeds to shareholders. Its stock rose 2.83 percent in morning trade on Friday. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 22, 2013 at 3:30 PM

New Jersey Solar Market: Price Volatility

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The BGS Auction in early February triggered an increase in prices, lifting them to $130 for RY 2013 SRECs. Now a month after the close of the BGS and with the upcoming EDC Auction as the next large market event in sight, RY 2013 SREC prices have softened slightly from their six-month peak. The spot contract traded to $117.50 on March 8. Karbone anticipates that prices could potentially retreat further in the lead up to the March 19th EDC Auction, when 53,000 to 62,000 RY 2013 SRECs will be introduced to the market.

Annual Installation Potential Breakdown Keep reading →

 /  Published March 20, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Japanese Bank Signs on to Support First US Offshore Wind Farm

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Offshore wind energy has been challenging to develop in the US despite significant promise and comparative access on the East Coast to major load centers. Finding financing is a perennial challenge for renewable energy projects of all kinds, making Cape Wind‘s recent announcement it had finalized an agreement with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ to lead its commercial bank financing marks a more significant step in developing the planned 468 MW wind farm than it at first appears.

Barclays remains the project’s financial advisor, and Ted Roosevelt IV, the managing director there, called the agreement with the Japanese bank a “significant step toward achieving financial close.” Keep reading →

 /  Published March 19, 2013 at 4:00 PM
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